The injury-bitten Hawks found the perfect cure.
It was the Bucks. Somebody should bottle that as the perfect elixir.
The Hawks lead by as many as 34 points en route to a 112-87 victory over the woeful Bucks Saturday night at the Bradley Center. The win came a night after the Hawks, playing without three starters, were drubbed by the Spurs.
Paul Millsap continued his push to be named an All-Star Game reserve with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. The power forward sat the entire fourth quarter as the Hawks enjoyed the impressive margin.
“We know what happened last night,” Millsap said. “Our main focus was to come out and get back to competing. … It’s a good thing about this league. You play the next night and come out and do something like this.”
The Hawks (23-20) won their fifth straight over the Bucks, this the first with former head coach Larry Drew patrolling the opposite sideline. Drew held a lengthy closed-door meeting with his team following the game.
Lou Williams had a big night for the Hawks with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. He led a group of six double-digit scores that included Mike Scott (14), DeMarre Carroll (12 points), Kyle Korver (12) and Elton Brand (10). Carroll returned to the Hawks starting lineup after missing Friday’s game with a mild left hamstring strain. Jeff Teague and Pero Antic joined the already injured Al Horford and John Jenkins on the team’s lengthy list.
“They look at me,” said Carroll, who credited the training staff for getting him ready to play. “You have certain leaders on the team. I think defensively, I’m a leader. When you have Kyle Korver coming to you and saying ‘We need you. We need you.’ When Paul Millsap is coming to you. Those are two of our top players saying that we need you. It made me feel good. It made me do everything to get on the court. Coach is very conservative. He didn’t want me to do too much. But when your teammates come to you and say that, it means a lot.”
Korver extended his NBA-record 3-point streak to 112 games. He hit two first-quarter 3-pointers. He was fouled on the second and completed the four-point play, the sixth time he has done so this season. The Hawks have 34 four-point plays in team history and Korver has eight of them in his season and a half with the team.
The Bucks (8-34), who easily own the NBA’s worst record, have lost two straight. Brandon Knight had a game-high 27 points.
The Hawks took a 15-point lead, 60-45, into the intermission. They shot 52 percent (24 of 46) with eight 3-pointers in the first two periods. All nine players who entered the game scored. The Bucks shot 50 percent (20 of 40) but had 13 turnovers that led to 18 Hawks’ points.
The Hawks started the third quarter on a 13-2 run, with Millsap scoring nine of the points, to open a 26-point lead. With just under six minutes left in the period, the Hawks would lead by 33 points.
“We wanted to come out and have a good 24 minutes and have the same mental toughness, the same attention to detail,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Tonight we were able to do that. That is something we can reference in the future.”
The Hawks’ lead would reach 34 points when James Nunnally hit a 3-pointer with under four minutes left. He made it that all 11 healthy Hawks played and scored.
In an odd moment, rookie Dennis Schroder had to be pulled from the game in the first quarter because he was wearing practice shorts instead of his regulation uniform. Budenholzer benched the guard, after just 1:17, for the rest of the first half due to the blunder.
The Hawks conclude their two-game road trip Monday against the Thunder.
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